The Art of Living: Aesthetics of the Ordinary in World Spiritual Traditions [Paperback]

Crispin Sartwell (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 31, 1995

This is a multicultural philosophy of art applied to common American and European experience and discussed in relation to Taoist, Buddhist, Hindu, Native American, and African traditions.

The Art of Living: Aesthetics of the Ordinary in World Spiritual Traditions is the first truly multi-cultural philosophy of art. It develops a new theory of what art is, and discusses it in relation to Zen Buddhism, Taoism, and Hinduism, as well as Native American, African, and African-American traditions.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Crispin Sartwell is Assistant Professor of Philosophy at the University of Alabama. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 180 pages
• Publisher: State University of New York Press (March 31, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0791423603
• ISBN-13: 978-0791423608
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6.5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #562,941 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Lots of good ideas..., September 24, 2001

By 

Yuri Kuzyk (Toronto, Ontario Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Art of Living: Aesthetics of the Ordinary in World Spiritual Traditions (Paperback)

It is unfortunate that Sartwell's book has received so little attention since he really did an excellent job of demonstrating what modernism has done to aesthetics and life in general. And really, what doesn't come down to aesthetics for meaning?

Sartwell develops the concept of art in many contexts including Zen, Taoism, Hinduism, Native American, African and African-American traditions. He then moves into reintegrating aesthetics into its true position in life - the core - as opposed to the scrap heap where modernism would like to have it stay.

Sartwell's chapter, "The Art of Knowing", is, I believe, the pinnacle of the book. He carefully demonstrates what has been done to "knowing" and how modernism (and scientific realism) have attempted to slide a number of incoherent positions into our general framework and proclaim them to be some sort of truth.
Highly recommended along with Bogdan's "Minding Minds", Faber's "Human Objectivity and Perception" and Flemons' "Completing Distinctions".

I'm surprised it has never been reviewed before now...